Thyroid Cancer Essay

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Thyroid Cancer
Essentials of Human Diseases and Conditions
Michael Vogel
Mondays 10am
03/2014

Thyroid cancer starts in the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland is located in the front part of your neck below just below your Adams apple. The thyroid isn’t really that noticeable making it very difficult to be felt for. Your thyroid gland controls thyroid hormones that help to regulate metabolism, mine works as slow as state government. On occation there can be too much or too little hormones produced which can cause all sorts of other problems. The thyroid also control how the body utilizes calcium. (American Cancer Society, 2012)
Tumors and growths of all kinds can form in the thyroid gland. Thyroid tumors are usually benign, which is not cancerous; but doesn’t mean that they can’t be malignant, which are cancerous and spread quickly into nearby tissues and other glandular areas of the body. Thyroid cancer can happen to anyone at any age. According to the Essentials of Human Diseases and Conditions textbook; “The four main types of thyroid cancer are papillary (small nipple-like projections), follicular (saclike balls of cells), medullary (affecting the interior portion of the gland, and anaplastic (loss of differentiations of cells).” (Schell Frazier & Drzymkowski Wist, 2013)
Papillary Carcinoma a lot of times grows very slowly. Typically mature in only one of the lobes of the thyroid gland, in patients under the age of forty-five. Cancer often spreads to the lymph nodes in the neck, still resulting in treatment which is usually successful and is rarely fatal. Papillary carcinoma is most likely to affect women that are in their childbearing stages in life. According to MedicineNet.com, “About eight of ten thyro...

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...pread to nearby tissue in the neck and or to the lymph nodes. Cancer may spread to the lungs and bones as well. Staging consists of more testing; ultrasound, CT scan, MRI, Chest x-ray and a whole body scan. (Thyroid Cancer, 2012)
Treatment is pending on the severity of the cancer. Options for treatment are: surgery, thyroid hormone treatment, radioactive iodine therapy, external radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Depending on the size of the nodule, age and if the cancer has spread, patients are more likely to have more than one treatment. Each treatment plan is developed to meet that patient’s needs. (Thyroid Cancer, 2012)
According to Essentials of Human Disease and Conditions textbook, “The most important prognostic factors are age at diagnosis, size of the primary tumor, and the presence of tissue invasion or metastases. (American Cancer Society, 2012)

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